The Secretary and the Scientist
by tranimation
Summary: Six months following the alien invasion of New York, Bruce Banner is forced to play peace-maker between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts after their messy break-up and soon realizes he is the middle of an emotional situation beyond his control. Canonical (Movieverse): Friendship/Romance: On-going. Rated K for unadulterated cuteness.
1. Lunch Break

**THE AVENGERS: THE SECRETARY AND THE SCIENTIST**  
**Chapter I: "Lunch Break"**

Written by Abri Isgrig (Lady Jekyll) and Diane N. Tran (tranimation)

* * *

This started off as a conversation with my friend Abri Isgrig (Lady Jekyll) and I, discussing how we honestly thought the romantic relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts was doomed to fail, even though we, in truth, adore the characters to death. We felt, instead, that Pepper was better matched with the character of shyer Bruce Banner, specifically the portrayal from _The Avengers_ (2011). I suppose you could call this a "crack pairing," which I generally avoid as a die-hard canonist, but it honestly does not help my cause when both Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Ruffalo starred opposite of each other in the romantic comedy, _View from the Top_ (2003), where they were _adorkably_ cute together, and will again in the upcoming romantic seriocomedy, _Thanks for Sharing _(2012), which further fuels our obsession with the BruPep romance...

Originally, she wrote "The Secretary and the Scientist" as a gift to me and I was forever thankful to her for her kindness and generosity for it. However, she recently was having trouble with the second chapter, therefore I offered my assistance and ended up expanding it. With that, I went back, played around, and expanded the previous chapter as well. Special thank-yous to Liz Hartley (weapon13WhiteFang) for being our ever-reliable Grammar Nazi as always!

**Synopsis**: Six months following the alien invasion of New York, Bruce Banner is forced to play peace-maker between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts after their messy break-up and soon realizes he is the middle of an emotional situation beyond his control. Canonical (Movieverse): Friendship/Romance: On-going. Rated K for unadulterated cuteness.

_The Avengers_ © Marvel Comics

* * *

Pepper Potts, the ever-respected CEO of Stark Industries, was playing waitress again. Not that she minded, but no one else in building wanted the job — in fact, every one of them flat out refused it — because the recipient of the meals was one Dr. Bruce Banner.

When it was announced that Tony Stark had offered Banner a high-end job in the Research and Development at Stark Tower six months ago, she thought nothing of it. Banner had the expertise, the imagination, and the genius for the work; but, to her great surprise, his mere presence caused the turnover rate at Stark Industries to skyrocket. Nearly forty-percent of the workforce resigned. For months, she accounted the cost and loss of employment, from recruitment to replacement, from productivity to performance, networking and strategizing within the company management to keep the newly-founded Stark Tower afloat and under operations as smoothly and efficiently as possible, despite being currently understaffed.

Of course, she had other problems as well.

Digging her nails into the plastic of the meal tray, she was reminded of Tony's raunchy wrong-number text message that was sent to her cell phone by mistake this afternoon; third time this week to be precise. That no-good, worthless, philandering son of a—!

Pepper paused at the entrance of the laboratory and took a deep breath to collect herself, as she punched the key-code and walked inside.

"Afternoon, Bruce," greeted she, making her way across the room toward a labcoat-clad man hunched over his work desk hidden behind several pilings of colourful test tubes and bulky, old books.

The figure didn't acknowledge her presence, but remained slumped over the desk, a pencil weakly clutched in one hand and the other laid across a pile of scribbled papers. Settling aside the tray for a moment, Pepper felt a surge of panic, recalling a mention of Bruce's suicidal tendencies, but he couldn't have possibly...

She tiptoed toward his ear. "Bruuuucce?"

The physicist stirred and sat up, his lungs filling with pungent air of chemicals, his greyed hair looking as though it made friends with a light socket, and his glasses dangling precariously off one ear. He blinked blearily, squinting against the light, and yawned.

"Timezit?" asked he, thickly.

"Half-past noon," she replied with a lopsided smirk. "How long have you been working?"

Bruce straightened his glasses and rolled his head on his shoulders, cracking the vertebrae in his neck audibly.

"Since Tuesday."

"How long has it been since you've last eaten?"

"Since—," he paused in mid-sentence with a stretch and another yawn, "—Tuesday."

Pepper shook her head a little and pushed the tray before him.

"Eat, please. You must be starving."

Lifting the lid on the tray, he beamed in delight at the simple meal of a sandwich, a salad, and green tea the redhead had brought him. Simplicity was good. Simplicity made him happy.

"Thank you," he said, unscrewing the lid to the thermos of green tea, pouring a cup, and handing it to her. He searched around for a clean mug or cup for himself, but none could be found. The scientist selected a round-bottom volumetric flask from one of the chemistry sets, turning it over in his hand in examination, shrugged, and filled it halfway with tea.

Pepper let out a laugh and Bruce blushed, forming a tiny smile, raising his "glass" in a toast. Smiling in return, she lightly clinked her cup against his makeshift one and watched him eat.

"Did I miss anything while I was asleep?"

"Not really. It's the usual thing: Supervillain from space, giant robot, city rampage, the customary 'I will destroy you' speech, fire and brimstone, that sort of thing."

Bruce peeked over his glasses, stopping at mid-chew of his sandwich, at her words with a grave, fretful expression creasing against his brow. But as he watched her break into an amused grin, he caught himself breathe a sigh in relief and closed his eyes.

"That wasn't funny," he mumbled dryly.

"Yes, it was. You'll laugh about it later."

The scientist couldn't help but betray a smirk, as she predicted, and continued his attention on his meal.

Pepper smiled again. He could, at least, take a joke.

When she first met Banner, she knew him exclusively by reputation and it was a reputation the world knew of: The man who could turn himself into a beast, or was a beast who could turn himself into a man? Either way, she doubted if he knew the answer — and it was difficult for her to imagine any sort of "evil" could come out of this unassuming, introverted little man.

Nonetheless, when people had the occasion to be around him, they were so cautious of their words and actions, so hesitant, so _false_, that it seemed pointless to talk to him at all. Therefore, Banner kept to himself, selecting a little corner of the laboratory, out of sight and out of mind. He was a man who was fully aware of his reputation, a man who was fully aware of the amount of power he possessed, and he willed himself not to use it. Bruce Banner was the loneliest man in the world, by choice — and yet he was perhaps the bravest man in the world as well.

At that moment, her cell phone rang, interrupting her chain of thought, and an ever-grinning image of Tony, which appeared mock her at the same time, popped up onscreen for an answer.

"Are you alright?" inquired Bruce who just finished stuffing a forkful of lettuce in his mouth. "You seem a little..._tense_."

"It's…nothing," she replied lowly with a frown. "Relationship issues."

For a moment and only a moment, she saw the all-too-brief bite of pain flash before the physicist's face, but she couldn't be certain. He guarded himself so well, always afraid to bump into anything, always afraid of conflict, always afraid to lose that sense of control that held the fragile cracks together, that she felt guilty for feeling angry or sad around him because he had it so much worse than she.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to burden you with any of my stupid problems."

"No, it's okay," he assured her with a shake of his head and a meek smile. "If you ever need, you know, somebody t—t—to talk to, Pepper..., I'm a really good listener."

Pepper tilted her head curiously, betraying another lopsided smile and a faint chuckle. She was so accustomed to Tony's colossus ego, boisterous charm, and restless personality that Bruce's polite humility, bashful sweetness, and restrained demeanour felt refreshing and welcoming, even if it was necessity on his part.

She stood and picked up his empty tray before taking her leave. "Thank you, Bruce, I'll think about it."

* * *

URL: favdotme/d5gpeu3


	2. A Breath of Fresh Air

**THE AVENGERS: THE SECRETARY AND THE SCIENTIST**  
**Chapter II: "A Breath of Fresh Air"**

Written by Abri Isgrig (Lady Jekyll) and Diane N. Tran (tranimation)

* * *

I did my best to make Bruce Banner as "Rufflized" as possible. He has a naturalistic, subtle stylization to his acting and I really hope comes off noticeably in this chapter.

* * *

The laboratory, despite the resonance of soft beeps and low hums of the computers, was uncomfortably silent all day. Dr. Bruce Banner usually enjoyed silence, as he typically experienced it very little. Silence was stillness. Silence was equanimity. Silence was _peace_. Silence was a prime opportunity to get work done. However, _this_ sort of silence was none of those.

He had been privy to Tony and Pepper's fighting for several weeks now, watching it escalate from petty arguments to screaming matches, occasionally having to duck for cover at thrown objects. He never asked to be the third wheel, nor did they intend him to be. He merely hid in his little corner of the laboratory and did his best to appear invisible and it worked — perhaps a little too well.

Today was bad. Of course, that was the understatement of the century. It was over, plain and simple. Tony knew it. Pepper knew it. Bruce knew it.

Oh, the silence was _excoriating_ now!

Bruce, holding his breath and peeking over from his glasses, cautiously decided to speak up:

"You…okay, Tony?"

"Do I look alright to you, Dr. Jekyll?" Tony snipped, keeping his attention on the computer screen and downing another glass of bourbon.

Bruce mentally flinched, feeling that dull echo of a growl from the Other Guy stir in the back of his mind, like an angry, caged wolf, at the sound of his nickname in that biting tone. Undoubtedly, he knew the billionaire would drown his emotions in alcohol and steep his attention in work and would probably try to drag his friend down with him. The thought of being towed off to a strip club again made Bruce cringe.

"You wouldn't mind if I stepped out for awhile, would you?" the physicist inquired, not wanting to deal with "Big Bad Tony" for the night, as he did so many nights before. Thankfully, Tony waved him off.

Gathering what few things he had with him, Bruce Banner shuffled out of the lab, aimlessly staring down at his shabby, discoloured shoes, as he turned a corner or two, and heard a sob. He had somehow ambled into the executive hallway and, chewing down on his bottom lip, there was only one person that could have been.

His first instinct was to tuck his tail, sneak off, and leave her be, but the sound of a woman's tears was a sound that even the strongest of men could never truly ignore. Fiddling with his fingers nervously, he quietly knocked on the executive office door and poked his nose through the crack.

"Hello?" he muttered barely above a whisper.

Pepper Potts looked up from her desk, wiping a pair of red, damp eyes, and she bravely slapped on a false smile. "Hi," she began to shift out of her chair; "I'm sorry, I must look a mess—."

"No, no, no, don't get up," Bruce insisted, raising his hands to her, in a gentle tone. "I just wanted to say...I'm sorry for what happened today. Do you need to talk about it?"

"I don't think I want to talk about it, Bruce..."

"I didn't ask if you wanted to," he replied, tapping one of the swinging sticks of her kinetic sculpture upon her desk, and presented her with the tenderest of smiles. "I asked if you _needed_ to."

Pepper couldn't help but smile at that. It was the first time she smiled in hours.

"It was a long time coming."

"Maybe," he leaned on the edge of her desk, removing his glasses, "but you tried. That's worth something."

"How do you know if it's worth it?" she sniffled.

His smile faded at the question and his eyes saddened. Watching him turn his head away from her, she had realized she had hit a nerve, as his hand went up to his mouth with an uneasy thoughtfulness. His attention went back to her, permitting an honest, if pained, smirk: "That's just...what I hear."

Pepper nodded quietly, mirroring the same little smile upon her lips.

Shrugging off his labcoat, he took a breath and glanced around her office. "I think we could use a little fresh air."

"That's very kind of you, Bruce, but I look—."

"You look beautiful, Pepper, as always. Wait, I mean—sorry, I—I—I didn't mean—I wasn't trying to—oh, god!"

Seeing Bruce stumble over himself, like an autumn leaf in the middle of a blizzard, Pepper stood up and touched his arm to calm him down. "I—I'd like some air, actually."

Unsure of what to do or what to say, as if he hadn't made himself look enough of a fool already, Bruce shoved his hands in his pockets, compulsively picking at the inside fabric and loose threading, and his body suddenly stiffened when he felt an arm, genteel and feminine, take his.

He gawked and regarded the gesture in a kind of bewilderment. Because of the Other Guy, for that reason alone, no one ever touched him — at least, not like that — but she did. She did it _twice!_

And, you know what, it didn't feel so bad.

"So, would you like some ice cream, too?"

* * *

URL: favdotme/d5gpexg


	3. Remembering the Cause

**THE AVENGERS: THE SECRETARY AND THE SCIENTIST**  
**Chapter III: "Remembering the Cause"**

Written by Diane N. Tran (tranimation), with Abri Isgrig (Lady Jekyll)

* * *

I want to take a short opportunity to answer a couple of frequently asked questions: Why Bruce-Pepper? What do we have against the Tony-Pepper relationship? The answer is absolutely nothing. We _adore_ Tony-Pepper, but there's something about Bruce-Pepper that is just a bit _more_. Their personalities merge more perfectly together. Tony, as much as we love him, isn't the most reliable of boyfriends: Fidelity is an alien concept to him and, being simply who he is, he'll slip up a few times, if not sexually, than emotionally. For those who think Tony _could_ be faithful, uhhh, need to read the comics more because, since his conception in the 1960s, "Bucket-Head" never has been and never will be and Pepper, as tolerate as she is his faults and flaws, has her limits, too. (Of course, understand that we're going to make it _easy_ for Bruce-Pepper either.)

And, no, we have no intention whatsoever to "villainize" Tony. Tony is a loveable character and should remain so. He makes mistakes, because he's _human_, of faults and flaws, like any other human being. Honestly, in your heart of hearts, could you forgive Tony is he truly did cheat on Pepper, broke her heart, and left her high and dry (as he's done with so many women before)? Pepper is too smart and too sensible of an individual — not just as a woman, but as a _person_ as well — to make herself a target, which is why we "broke" relationship off where we did, where you hate Tony just a bit for his mistakes, and even Pepper for her decision, but are fully capable forgiving the both of them.

We're going to postpone Chapter IV until _after_ the release of _Iron Man 3_ (2013) in May, as we want to keep this pastiche as close to the Marvel film canon as possible and make any necessary changes, if need be, to have everything fit cleanly. (Please see my profile for creativity statuses.)

* * *

As Pepper and Bruce walked arm-in-arm together out of the front door of Stark Tower, she was looking forward to enjoying their brisk stroll into Central Park with a cone of sweet creamery at hand. She loved Central Park. It was a pleasant escape from the concrete jungles, office hallways, and cubicle rat mazes of the workplace. She enjoyed feeling the bright sun beam upon her face. She enjoyed breathing in the fresh air of the rare patches of green provided. She enjoyed the shade of the tall trees. She enjoyed hearing the gentle babbling of the brook where the swans could be seen gliding across its surface, the cooing of pigeons being fed upon the sidewalks, and the laughter of children playing on jungle gyms.

But the streets of Manhattan told another story entirely.

Six months had pass since the alien incident and the city still retained the scars of the destruction. The cleanup crews were still hard at work, entire blocks enclosed in yellow tape and orange cones, as they loaded and unloaded massive piles of the twisted metal, shattered glass, and broken cinderblocks that scattered all across the cement and asphalt, a brigade of police officers re-directed the bumper-to-bumper traffic from the disarray and an army of hard hats clambered in and out their equipment of cranes and bulldozers.

Taking her attention away from the controlled chaos before her, Pepper saw Bruce lower his head in shame. "This wasn't your fault, Bruce," she spoke at length, squeezing his arm a little tighter, "if that's what you're thinking."

"It's not that," the scientist muttered with a feeble shrug. His gaze still aimed down upon his worn-out shoes while they entered Central Park. "I only wish there was more I could do."

"You helped save the world. What more could you do?"

"So many died that day. So many got hurt. Realistically, I know we couldn't save everyone, but..." His voice trailed off when he heard the sound of children playing. He paused for a moment to watch a brood of youths on the playground and grimaced when he spotted two or three, weaving through the swings and slides, with images of their favourite Avenger scrawled on their tiny shirts. "I know what people say about me, Pepper. It was difficult enough when everyone called me a villain, a menace, a _monster_. Now, I think it's even more difficult being called a hero. The expectations are higher. The stakes are higher. It hits you harder when you let down the people who count on you the most. You take the losses harder, too. If I did something different, something better, could I have saved a few more?"

"You're too hard on yourself, Bruce. We all think that, if we could go back, we could do more, but we can't. It could have been far worse if you did something else and failed. A lot more people would have gotten killed or hurt. You did the best you could, all of you, and we're thankful."

He closed his eyes deliberately, taking a few seconds to mull over her words, and drew in a lengthy breath. He could feel his posture straighten and his muscles loosen, as if a heavy weight that had burdened him for a long time had been lifted off his shoulders. Even if was only a temporary release, an all-too-brief respite, he gifted her with a tiny, meek, yet appreciative smile.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

His free hand gestured forward politely and they continued on their way towards the ice cream standee. She ordered a scoop of mint chocolate chip and he ordered a scoop of vanilla. She couldn't help but smile at that: Vanilla seemed to suit him.

They found a quiet spot and sat together at a bench situated in a full view of the park. As he lapped up the sweet cream from his cone, his mind began to wander: Is this what it's like to be normal? He had been wayward for so long, aimlessly sleeping in trash-filled alleyways, travelling down empty roadsides, scrounging for food, hiding from authorities, ticking off the wasted days, the wasted hours, without incident, that he had almost forgotten the things "normal" people did — having a home, sleeping in a comfortable bed, enjoying a hot shower, going to work, walking to the park, and sharing his time in quiet company with a woman, a woman of all things, with the warmth of the sun overhead and the coolness of the breeze surrounding. All those little things, those mundane things, those everyday things, "normal" people simply took for granted. It was dull, admittedly, but he would have been happy with this. It would have been nice. This _is_ nice.

In fact, truth be told, it was _too_ nice for the likes of him.

He could feel a bitter taste moil inside his mouth and it wasn't the ice cream, for it was long gone, disappearing from his hand, unbeknownst, and he frowned to himself. He licked the final traces of sweetness from his lips and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Turning his head to his companion, the corner twitched into an awry smile, feeling the assortment of sour thoughts slide out of sight and out of mind, when he looked upon her. She had leaned back on the bench, her chin raised slightly, a faint smile across her lips, with the sunglow upon her face and the waft through her red hair. She appeared at peace.

"Did you want to get another one?"

He tilted his head, befuddled for a moment at her meaning, before he realized she meant the ice cream.

"Oh, no, I'm fine." Drying his palms along the fabric of his pant legs, the physicist eased back into the wood of the bench and cleared this throat: "Err, um, d—do you want to talk about Tony?"

"Not really," she replied matter-of-factly with a dismissive shrug. "There isn't much to tell that you don't already know. He flirts with other women, more than I'd like; and, while he hasn't cheated on me, not officially, there's always that chance that he could have, or that he would have."

"You are considered his first 'official' girlfriend then?"

"Of recent years, yes. I'm unquestionably the longest relationship he's had, but he's had two or three serious ones before me. He eventually cheated on all of them and I just don't want to be around when it ultimately happens to me."

"You don't know that for certain," he said defensively, choosing his words ever so cautiously. "He is _trying_, Pepper. True, I haven't known him as long as you have; however, I know his reputation and I know he's been doing his best to change, to change for _you_. That's got to mean something."

"Believe me, it does," she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But, in the end, can I trust him? Maybe I just expected too much from him, or maybe I expected too much from myself. All the same, we tried and it didn't work. End of story."

"You could give him another chance."

"I gave him plenty of chances, far more than I should."

"So, what's one more?"

Her lips thinned at the question and she was silent for a long while.

"That's...really asking a lot, Bruce."

"I understand that," his voice was scarcely above a whisper, as he wistfully picked at his fingernails; "just, you know, think about it."

"Fine," she relinquished with an exasperated sigh, shaking her head, "but no promises."

With a curt nod, he accepted that answer.

Ever the pacifist, he had defended Tony and had appeased Pepper. The two had become his friends. No, they were more than friends. They had become his new-found family, of sorts. He couldn't live with the idea of them at odds with one another under the same roof and hoped that things would turn out for the better once the dust settled.

They sat in a quiet reflection, content in observing the sanitary beauty of the landscape, before she turned to meet his eye, as an impish smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. The curiosity had proven to be too overpowering for her, too palatable to dismiss, to keep inside any longer. She just _had_ to ask:

"So, who was she, Bruce?"

* * *

URL: favdotme/d5tfeez


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